postcard

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A card, often with a picture, that you write on and send by mail without an envelope.

   Grammar: Countable: a postcard, some postcards. You send a postcard, not 'a postcard mail'.

   Patterns

   • send a postcard
   • write a postcard
   • a postcard from a place

   She sent me a postcard from Paris with a picture of the Eiffel Tower.

   I always buy a few postcards when I travel.

   He wrote a quick postcard to his grandmother.

2. 2nounbefore a nounfigurative

   A scene or view that looks as pretty and perfect as a picture on a postcard.

   Grammar: Used before a noun in the phrase 'picture-postcard': a picture-postcard village.

   Patterns

   • picture-postcard + noun

   The village looked like a picture-postcard scene.

   We stayed in a picture-postcard cottage by the sea.

Word forms

Common combinations

send a postcard

Don't forget to send a postcard when you get there.

write a postcard

It only takes a minute to write a postcard.

postcard from

I got a postcard from Rome yesterday.

picture postcard

The harbor was a picture postcard of boats and bright houses.

Synonyms and how they differ

card

Card is a general word for any stiff piece of paper with a message; a postcard is specifically one sent by mail, often with a picture.

note

A note is a short written message, usually in an envelope or left for someone, not a card sent without one.

Word family

post verb

To send a letter or card by mail.

postage noun

The money you pay to send mail.

Commonly confused: postcard or letter?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “postcard”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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